Fleeting
by darkrisingphoenix
Summary: He said to meet in the next life. -unrelated oneshots, next-life fics; AkuRoku-
1. Red Frisbee

**red frisbee;**

There were sometimes voices.

_Roxas? Oh, Roxas, when will you wake up?_

_Sometimes I wonder if you can even hear me._

_The line AB is tangent to circle O, so therefore... hey, Roxas, have any clue? Oh, right. You missed that lesson in class._

_Roxas, Roxas! Guess what! Riku kissed me today! I already told you that he told me he liked me before, right? Yeah, I know I did. But I'm so happy! I wonder if it'll be awkward tomorrow in class. Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait and see. So, in **Animal Farm**, the animals stage a rebellion..._

_Riku taught me a new word he learned from his grandmother last night. 'O-daiji ni'. He says it means 'take care of yourself'. So o-daiji ni, Roxas. I'm going to learn lots more Japanese so I can confuse you with it when you wake up, okay?_

_Roxas, Roxas. Did you know there's a game called 'ultimate frisbee'? It's lots of fun. You need to play with us._

Finally, the words weren't so distant anymore.

"--kly, I don't get why Ms. Lockhart likes to assign so much homework. I mean, chemistry's not _that_ exciting, is it?"

Roxas slowly opened his bleary eyes and carefully lowered his chin in a sort of nod. Then he tried to focus his eyes and stared up at the ceiling, wondering where he was. Definitely not in his bed--the sheets were too crisp and scratchy. There was pressure against his jaw, and his entire body was numb. Except his legs. They hurt.

"I know, right? I mean, it's all just a bunch of letters and..." the cheery voice trailed off. "Roxas? You awake?"

He blinked to respond and his ears suffered. There was loud yelling and cheering from the voice and the squeaking of rubber on tile as it moved to shout out the hallway. He heard something about someone being awake, call the doctor, he just opened his eyes and blinked, I swear.

A few people shuffled in, and there was movement beside him.

"Ah, so he finally awakens." That voice he'd heard snippets of as well. It was deep and warm, but all too stiff to be soothing. He saw a man with pale hair and wrinkled skin lean over him and shine a bright light into his eyes. He managed to flinch away slightly, scrunching his eyes closed. "We'll have him discharged once we see how he's healing. Maybe a few more days, Sora. Maybe longer."

"Fine..."

A few feet shuffled outside and the door swung closed. The owner of the voice he heard most often leaned over him, peering eagerly into his eyes. The deep blue color was certainly a sight for sore eyes.

"Hey, Roxas, how're you feeling? I know you probably can't talk yet, but you can blink to answer. Um, one for 'awful', two for 'fine', and three for 'just peachy-keen'."

Roxas blinked once. Then felt his lips turn down and his mouth opened, whispering, "When the hell did you learn the phrase 'peachy keen', Sora?"

The brunet above him grinned and clapped giddily. "You can talk! I was watching some old movies while I was waiting for you to wake up. It's fun to say."

Roxas rolled his eyes and ignored the throbbing pain in his legs. Then he closed his eyes and sighed. "Where am I?"

"Um, the hospital, Rox. But everything's fine, now that you're awake," Sora smiled. "So just trust me on this, okay?"

X X X

He was discharged from the hospital a week later. It had been a car crash, he learned. He'd been late to school and had run a red light. He'd ended up in a coma for two months. His legs, both of which had been broken, were due to finish healing in another three weeks. So he was in a wheelchair for the time being.

When they got home, Sora insisted on taking him to the park nearby. He got strange looks from neighbors, but for the most part, they went about their own business and merely gave slight waves to Sora as they passed by.

The park was rather empty that day, and Sora wheeled Roxas out to the field beyond the playground. There were a few older teenage boys running around, tossing a red disc between them. They shouted occasionally when someone missed, and one with red hair made a particularly splendid catch with a leap.

"I'm going to go buy ice cream. Want to come with?" Sora asked suddenly, gesturing down a path to the rest area.

"Nah," Roxas shook his head, eyes fixed on the frisbee.

"Okay. Don't move." Sora left, jogging down the cement pathway and out of sight.

Roxas watched as the blonde one tossed the frisbee, and it missed the outstretched hands of the redhead. It landed in Roxas's lap. There was a yell of "Nice toss, Demyx!" from the redhead, and then "Your aim sucks!" as he began to run after it.

"Well so-_rry_," the blonde called back.

When the redhead reached Roxas, he gave an apologetic half smile and held out his hand. "Sorry about that. Can we have our frisbee back, kiddo?"

Roxas frowned at him, then replied, "I'm seventeen, _kiddo_."

The redhead grinned and bent down with his hands in his pockets. "Well excuse me, but you look like a sullen little kid all holed up in that wheelchair there. So whaddya say? You wanna give back the frisbee, or you going to play?"

"Are you _blind_?" Roxas rolled his eyes and gestured at the wheelchair he was seated upon. "I'm an _invalid_ right now."

The redhead waggled his eyebrows at Roxas. "Then why're you all alone? Didn't your parents ever teach you about not talking to strangers? Especially now, when you can't walk, some creepy old man's going to snatch a cute kid like yourself away."

"Like you?"

"Ouch, that hurts, blondie," he laughed. "Now--"

"If you want the frisbee, catch it," Roxas swiveled his torso slightly and whipped the frisbee past the lanky redhead, right into the stomach of the blonde who had thrown it in the first place.

He let out a low whistle. "That's some arm you got there, blondie. Too bad you're an invalid, or you'd be on my team."

"Roxas."

"What?"

"My name is _Roxas_, not blondie."

"I'm Axel," the redhead replied. "A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" He pointed at the side of his head with a grin. "So can I call you Roxie?"

"What a lame catchphrase," Roxas rolled his eyes and turned his wheelchair around to meet Sora at the end of the pathway, yelling about how they had to go. "See ya, dude," he said, meaning "goodbye forever".

"That means that you'll be back." Axel gave a quick salute. "See you then, _Roxie_."

Roxas rolled his eyes again and wheeled down to Sora, who immediately asked him whom he'd been talking to. Roxas replied with "a moron" and Sora grinned, wheeling him back home to immediately whip up a plate of pasta and some cookies to celebrate 'Roxas finally getting a new friend other than Hayner, Pence, and Olette'.

X X X

Two months later, July had come. Roxas was out of the wheelchair and had been on his feet for a month now. Sora had pushed him outside, telling him he needed fresh air, and he let his feet take him down a few streets until they took him to the park. There was a shout, and a red frisbee hit him in the shoulder.

Axel came running and stopped when he saw it was Roxas. With a smirk, he picked up the frisbee and shook it at Roxas. "Knew you'd be back, blondie."

Roxas blew hair out of his eyes. "My name is Roxas. R-O-X-A-S. Got _that_ memorized?"

"It bites," Axel leaned forward slightly. "So, you up to playing with us?"

Roxas looked back down the street to where his cool room awaited him, with a big tub of sea-salt ice cream in the freezer calling his name. He wiped his forehead of sweat, then his palms, and shrugged.

"Why not?"

X X X

_AN: I'm ready for summer. Anyone else?_


	2. Technicolor

**Disclaimer: I make no money off this fanfiction, nor do I own Kingdom Hearts or its characters.**

Since the original second fic in this series wasn't liking itself too much, I decided to do a different one.

WARNING: GENDERSWITCH AND YURI AHEAD

Yes, kiddies. The adventures of Roxanne and Axelle. So if girl on girl is one of your squicks, I suggest you don't read. I completely blame Rachel for letting me write this one at one in the morning, completely deprived of caffeine and the sort. Thanks, hon.

...I am soooooooo dead for writing this. First time writing yuri here, kids. I probably failed.

**technicolor;**

Oh. My. God. I am going to _kill_ Sora for dragging me in here. Ugh, I think I'm going blind from the multicolored packaging this crap comes in. I mean honestly, what's wrong with black and white and grey, with the occasional spot of red and pale blue? Oh god, these colors are absolutely hideous.

Sora said that I need a better make up sense. Her little lackey of a girlfriend, Rika, agreed completely. Something about "color coordinating" and "eyeliner and lip gloss aren't enough" before they abandoned me in this store, taking my car keys and cell phone with them, saying they'd be back in an hour and that I'd better find something to get, or they'd force me in one of those chairs here and completely make me over. Oh, when I get my hands on my twin, I am going to wrap my hands around her scrawny little neck and _squeeze_.

But enough moping. I'm getting looks from that cashier that's telling me to either get something or get out.

So, where shall I start? Eye shadow, mascara, lipstick, foundation...

...I'm lost already.

X X X

Okay, it's been fifteen minutes. I've already nearly suffocated on perfume, poked my eye out with a mascara wand, and gotten asked by the same blonde clerk (Cloud. What a weird name.) if I needed any help _twice_. This is why I buy stuff from mega markets and not specialty stores. No one bugs you if you're trying to figure out the difference between two foundations that look the same, but one is three times as expensive.

And what the hell does lipliner do anyway? What's the point?

Okay, I'll just put that back then... Turn around, and walk awa--

"Ah!" I let out an extremely high-pitched squeak that's undignified when I run into a redhead wearing the apron of the workers here. I look up and mutter a sorry.

Oh, she's _pretty_. Fine-boned with a slightly-too-long nose for her to be beautiful. She's wearing rectangular-framed glasses that suit her. Her eyes are this bright green that I'd compare to emeralds, but they're not that green. Maybe more peridot? Almost, but not quite... Are those tattoos under her eyes? The narrow heart shapes are too smooth and exact to be eyeliner. And she certainly knows her way around a make up brush.

The more I look at her, the less pretty she gets. Suddenly, she's rather plain.

"Hey, blondie. You going to stare at me all day?" she asks.

Oh, shit. Was I staring? "Sorry," I mutter.

She leans forward to look me in the eye and smirks. "You look like you could use some help."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, I saw you nearly stab yourself with that mascara wand earlier. You don't look like you know the difference between powder and cream eye shadow," she replies, shrugging.

I glare at her in return. Damn, she's right.

"My name's Axelle," she says, pointing to the name tag pinned to her apron. "Got it memorized, blondie?"

"My name's Roxanne," I snap. "Don't call me blondie."

She raises her hands defensively and takes a step back. "Okay, okay. Roxanne. But seriously, you look lost. Care to tell me why?"

"Well, if I hadn't been dragged here and then abandoned by my sister, I wouldn't be in this predicament," I say, jabbing a finger at the door. And just like that, I find myself telling her the entire story. It takes all of two minutes, and she's already nodding her head and grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"Well, Roxy, I think I can help you," she gestures to the foundation aisle. "We'll start there."

"Don't call me Roxy," I mutter begrudgingly, but follow the redheaded clerk anyway.

She leads me down the aisle and picks up a clear plastic card with small, semi-transparent circles on it and tells me to hold up my hand. She places the card almost on top of it and points to the circle that disappears against my hand. "This will tell us what shade of foundation to buy. See, you're a creamy natural in the _Marluxia_ brand."

Okay, I know that much.

"From the looks of it, you want a long-lasting powder." She bends down to pluck a compact from the bottom shelf and I catch a glimpse of bright red underwear peeking out of her black pants as they ride down. Shitshitshitshit_shit_. She comes up after sorting through a few of them and presses it into my hand. "There ya go, Roxy," she says as she begins to turn away. Almost as an afterthought, she looks over her shoulder and winks. "By the way, did you enjoy the view?"

I feel my cheeks heat up immediately. "What view?" I manage to reply as she leads me to the concealer and puts a stick into my hands. Up next is eye shadow, she says to me as we march down the long aisles.

"Hm, tell me, Roxy. What color dominates your closet?" she asks as we stand in front of a giant rack of multicolored eye shadows. She gives me a once over and smiles. "I'm going to guess either black or... black."

"Shut up," I mutter back. Damn it, she's right again.

"So I'd suggest something to go with those lovely eyes of yours. Maybe..." Axelle pauses and lets her finger wander over the selections, stopping on a small compact with four colors that seemingly clashed displayed under the plastic cover. "This one comes with four colors that you can mix and match."

I look at the eye shadow and frown. Blue and yellow? Turquoise? What kind of a make up artist is she?

"See, you'd probably layer on the turquoise first, then maybe just a tint of the baby blue. A little bit of yellow over here, and then the white for a highlight," she explains, fingers running my eyelids over where she'd put the colors.

What. The. Hell. She's touching my face. She's touching my fucking _face_.

She grins at me and flicks my nose. "You're cute, Roxy. Especially when you blush."

Shit, was I blushing? At what? Damn.

The redhead leads me to eyeliner, mascara (nearly pokes my eye out when showing me how to put it on properly), then blush, explaining each component and why girls use it. Then she puts products into my hands like she expects me to buy them. She even tells me about lipliner and talks about lipstick, saying that for such a cute, blushing girl like me, I should stick to lip gloss.

I grind my heel into her toes for that one.

Once she's done hopping around in pain, she grins at me weakly and limps to the lip gloss.

"So I'm going to assume you'd like something sheer and light," she says, plucking a few tubes from the display. "So, this one's kind of fruity and kind of sticky, but not too shimmery, so it's nice if you don't want super glossy lips."

I nod and look at it dubiously. "I don't really want anything too sticky..." I mutter.

Axelle laughs. "Okay, how about a little more color? This one's not sticky, but it's pinker than the other. Not your cup of tea? Okay, this one's mostly sheer and a little glossy. Also stays on and won't come off on your cup or straw if you're drinking something. Also tastes like cherries." She holds it up and waggles her eyebrows at me. Honestly, it's a little creepy. "Want to try it?"

"Wouldn't I have to pay for it then?" I raise an eyebrow at her.

"No, I have a sampler," she says, digging a tube identical to the one she's holding out of her apron and shows me the giant orange SAMPLE sticker plastered on it. "It's one of the featured items this week, so I get to carry this baby around with me and push it onto unsuspecting customers."

"I don't--" I start, but Axelle's already uncapped it and is applying it to my lips in quick swipes. Her face is close enough to mine that I can smell that she's been sucking on a mint and is probably wearing the gloss she's currently putting on me. Oh, crap. Am I blushing again?

"There we go," she says, pulling away. She pulls a small mirror from her apron and holds it up. "How's that look?"

It's a very nice gloss, actually. Just enough pink to tint my lips, with a slight shimmer and low gloss. It does smell like artificial cherries, but the stench isn't overpowering at all. It actually smells kind of... good.

"Does it really not come off?" I ask her, rubbing my lips together slightly. "I've heard my sister say that she's tried some things that said they would, but didn't work."

"Wanna test that?" Axelle asks, putting the mirror and lip gloss away. Wow, that smirk on her face is a little creepy. She places a hand on my arm and steps a little closer.

Before I know it, she's kissing me. Not like a chaste, innocent little one you'd give your mother, but her lips are moving against mine, and she's pressing against me hard. I can feel her left hand creeping up my back and even daring to dip under my shirt. Her right is on my hip, thumb rubbing small circles on the bone.

Weirdest thing about this is, I'm not pushing her away.

Hot damn, she's a good kisser.

She stops the kiss and leans back, but her face is still only inches from mine. Her hand comes up to cup my cheek, and her thumb swipes at my lips. "Hm, I think that stood up quite well to the test, don't you think, Roxy?" And she pulls away with a final grope of my ass that makes me let out a little squeal of surprise and embarrassment.

"What the hell?" I ask, feeling the eyeliner in my hands drop to the floor. "What the fucking hell was that?"

"Come on, Roxy, it was just a little kiss," Axelle replies, rolling her eyes. "Besides, from the way you were eye-humping my ass when I bent over didn't exactly scream "I'm straight!", now did it?"

"I wasn't eye-humping your scrawny little ass!" I nearly shout in indignation, covering up my mouth when I see a lady in the next aisle over glare at us.

"Right, Roxy. You just keep thinking that," Axelle grins at me and points at the door. "Your twin's here, so I think you'd best be going."

I turn in a huff, muttering curses darkly under my breath, and only stop stomping to the cashier when Axelle calls after me.

"Don't forget your lip gloss, Roxy!" she says cheerily, pushing the tube into my already full hands. "And you dropped your eyeliner, so I picked that up for you too."

"Fuck off," I reply.

Axelle smiles at me and pats my head. "I get off at six and work Mondays to Saturdays. Got it memorized?" Then she saunters off to a rather annoyed looking Cloud, who begins to lecture her about something, complete with angry hand gestures and hushed whispers.

Pffft, like I'd ever want to see this crazy lady again.

X X X

I let Sora and Rika put make up on me and meet her for coffee at the Starbucks right next to the beauty store once her shift's over.

_end_

* * *

Trying out a different format here.

So, comments? Questions? Want to tell me I stink? Go right ahead and press the button, kids.


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